


Third Wheels

by Harmonious



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-09 23:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5560375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harmonious/pseuds/Harmonious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somehow, they are always each other's company whenever they met up with their mutual friends, Gray and Juvia. [Lyon x Meredy]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The first time they were formally introduced was during the opening of an amusement park beside a land near Magnolia.

She was with the blue-haired water mage who was once the woman of his dreams, while he was with the dark-haired Ice-Make mage whom the said woman had fallen in love with. Also, he might be what he'd considered closest to a brother. Closest to an idiot brother, that is.

"Gray-sama, Lyon-sama! What brings you here?" Juvia asked with wide eyes. Her face flushed crimson and she gasped dramatically. "Could it be? That the two of you are on a-"

"Heavens, no, Juvia! We're _NOT_ on a date," Gray responded immediately in annoyance, "Stop your fantasizing with this nonsense."

"We just happened to stumble upon each other on a certain place, Juvia-chan," Lyon replied in a more calm and friendly manner, "I have some errands to do in Magnolia so we decided to head there together, but we discovered this place on the way there. There is no need for any misunderstandings."

"Juvia sees..." she uttered with a odd tone mixed with relief and disappointment, "But now that you're here, would the two of you like to go with Juvia and Meredy to the amusement part? If you're not busy, that is!"

Gray agreed, explaining that he had nothing else to do that day anyway.

Likewise, Lyon stated that his errands were not really urgent. "Would it be alright for your friend, though?" he questioned politely, glancing at the pinkette beside Juvia. The water mage similarly turned to her and waited for her response.

"Not a problem," Meredy answered with a smile, "The more, the merrier, right?"

He only smiled back.

With everything settled, the four entered the amusement park.

"How'd you two end up here?" Gray asked, turning to the two girls.

"Oh, Meredy and her companions just moved in to town this week! Previous days have been quite stressful for her, especially with the matters with the council, but now that it's done, Juvia wanted to help her relax a bit, and the opening of this park was just at the perfect timing!"

"I'm really grateful, Juvia," Meredy said, "It wasn't an easy process attaining this freedom granted by the newly reformed council, but I'm just glad it's all over. Thank you for this trip, too!"

Juvia smiled at her back. "Oh! Juvia just remembered something!" She turned to Lyon, and then to her pink-haired friend. "The two of you haven't been introduced to each other, right?"

Lyon breathed out and took initiative. He reached out his hand with the same small smile he gave earlier.

"Lyon," he said.

She looked at him. She already knew who he was, of course; he was one of the popular names that people looked up to during the Grand Magic Games.

She shook his hand.

"Meredy," she said.

And he already knew her as well. He learned of her existence around the time Tenrou Island disappeared, due to her connection with Ultear, the daughter of his teacher.

"You know," Gray interjected as they released their hands from each other's grip. "I just realized that this isn't the first time the four of us are together."

And they all knew that. Yet they did not allow the painful moments of dragons and death go over their heads as they went over the various rides and stalls, passively drowning away the negative emotions with newer, more positive memories together.


	2. A Little Game

The first few rides had been quite decent, at least, giving them lasting excitement by the time they reached the exit gates of the rides.

While walking in between from rides, they all agreed that for the two-seater rides, Juvia would sit beside Meredy while Gray beside Lyon.

"Sorry, Gray-sama!" Juvia exclaimed while clasping her hands together in front of her, "You would have to sit with Lyon-sama and not Juvia... After all, Meredy is Juvia's original date, while Lyon-sama is yours!"

Gray decided to ignore the implications of her very last statement. "Not a problem. As long as he doesn't vomit on me."

"Excuse me," the older ice mage retorted back, crossing his arms, "Just don't cling on me when the ride goes plummeting down."

Apart from minor arguments between the two ice mages on who got to sit first, they generally had no problems with the rest of the attractions in the park.

Until they came across one ride.

_The Tunnel of Love._

"No. Way." Gray stared at the sign with a disbelieving look on his face. "No way in hell am I gonna ride that with him!"

Lyon was equally unpleased. "What makes you think I'm gonna ride it with you?"

"Aww, come on! Juvia thinks it'll be fun!" The water mage approached the boys as she tried her best to convince them to go along. "Didn't Gray-sama ride the Love Slide with Lyon-sama before? Juvia doesn't see why this would be any different!"

"Ugh, I'd rather ride it with you than with him!" Gray said in an outburst, but immediately started regretting it after seeing the shocked look on Juvia's face, which only lasted briefly, as her face then transformed into one immensely hopeful.

"R-really, Gray-sama?" Juvia's face was already as scarlet as Erza's hair.

"T-that doesn't mean I wanna do it!"

Juvia's mind was clearly in another world already.""OHH GRAY-SAMA! Is that an indirect confession of your love?"

Gray continued turning her down and was finding ways to escape. His eyes met with the pinkette. "How about Meredy?"

"Actually, Gray," Meredy responded quickly with her index finger pointed upwards. "I was going to suggest that we trade places, for now, at least!"

Juvia's smile grew even wider. "Really, Meredy? Thank you! How about you, then?"

"Don't worry about me, Lyon and I could wait for the two of you here." The pinkette turned to the silver-haired mage, "Unless, you want to ride that as well? I could see a lane for the singles out there!"

He peered over to what she was referring to and had a glimpse of various women seemingly waiting for their Prince Charmings. He grimaced. "No thanks, I can wait with you." The thought of being paired to random females who appeared hungry for love didn't really appeal for him.

"Wait, don't I have a say for this?" Gray started to complain, but Meredy ignored him and grinned.

"That settles it, then!" The Maguilty mage pushed them towards the ticket booth until Juvia did the job for her for the rest of the trip to the queue line.

As soon as Meredy was beside Lyon again, neither of them started to speak, encasing them in an awkward silence.

"Nice weather we have today," Lyon said after some seconds, trying to break the ice.

"Hmm, yeah."

Another moment of silence.

"Why did you do that, though?" He tried again, as glanced at the floating hearts and some flying angels of love circulating around the exterior of the attraction. "The outside is pretty impressive in itself. Just imagine what you'd see on the inside if you only went with Juvia."

Meredy casually leaned her back against the metal fences. "After all we have been through, Juvia had been nothing but really nice to me. This is the least I could do to pay her back." She watched as he similarly leaned back and rested his elbows on the railing. "Besides, Gray seems to have no real qualms about it. I mean, did you see how he allowed her to pull him towards the queue?"

Lyon huffed in irritation. "Eh. Stupid Gray is just being his stubborn self."

"What is this? Is this bitterness I see?" She smirked. "Sorry though, Juvia is my friend so I support her happiness. I hope you forgive me for making her steal Gray away from you!"

Lyon looked as if he would be having a headache. "Please do me a favor and stop this boy love nonsense with Gray. Juvia saying it is just enough."

She easily hopped onto the railing and sat on it, balancing herself. "Haha, I was just messing with you, of course. I know who you really like. Your public confession of affections was pretty much one of the highlights during the Grand Magic Games."

Lyon tried to look not too embarrassed with his actions before. "That was a thing of the past. I have learned to let go of my feelings for her."

"So you could have space for your feelings for Gra-"

"Please no."

"Heh."

A brief moment of awkward silence followed.

Lyon flicked his arm in front of him as if checking the time, even if he didn't really have a watch. "Well, they seem to be taking their time."

Meredy only giggled. "Relax, will you? Not even three minutes has passed."

Silence.

Without warning, Meredy hopped off the fence and landed squarely on the ground, slightly startling him. "God, this is awkward!" She strode in front of Lyon and boldly placed her hands on her waist. "Lyon, let's play a game."

The other mage raised an eyebrow at her sudden proposition, but decided to humor her anyway. He found her pretty amusing and odd at the same time. "What kind of game?"

"It's the ' _Know-who-Lyon-has-the-strongest-feelings-for_ ' game!"

If his personality was still his past self, he would've outwardly said that it was ridiculous and _she_ was ridiculous. But he was already a changed man, and this Meredy girl seemed sweet enough, so he still decided to play along, even though part of him thought that he would regret it soon. "Interesting. What should I do?"

Her eyes gleamed in excitement. "Wow, you're like, the first person ever to accept this without throwing me off! Not even Jellal wanted to play this with me... Though to be fair, pretty much everyone already knows who he has the strongest feelings for, hehe!"

The way she happily bounced and pranced seemed to lessen Lyon's anxiety. A bit. "So? What do I do?"

"All you need to do is relax, and close your eyes!"

And he obeyed. After about five seconds, he felt a chilly breeze of air flowing in front of him, as if he was riding a boat in a calm river. There was also warm sensation encircling his right arm.

"And now you're connected! You can open your eyes now!"

And so he did. He was almost afraid to ask. "What...did you do to me?"

"Right now, you are sharing your sensations with the person you have the strongest feelings for! Just wait a minute while I analyze the magical signature of that lucky person!"

As Meredy closed her eyes in concentration, Lyon took it as the opportunity to check if she did something weird with his body, and the only thing out of the blue was the pink seal around his right wrist. He was startled by her for the second time when she loudly exclaimed, "A-HA!"

Again, he was almost afraid to ask. "What now?"

"What a surprise!...or not," she deadpanned, but then she raised her voice again in a dramatic tone, "The person you have the strongest feelings for in a one kilometer radius is no one other than...Gray!"

Lyon frowned with great displeasure. "Stop screwing with me."

"Oh, but I'm not!"

"Either you're messing with me or your magic's a fraud."

She feigned an offended gasp. "My Maguilty Sense magic could never lie! It only analyzes your own emotions, so the only one lying here could be yourself!"

"Well then, I'm probably feeling the strongest emotion of hate towards him."

"Orrrrr you two are actually secret lovers! The great Meredy intuition is never wrong!" She began laughing heartily.

He however found it far from amusing. "Shut it. Release me now."

"Okay, okay," she managed to say in between her laughs, "To be honest, I could only detect strong emotions from a target. I have no idea what particular emotion it is... Only you, the target, could really know what is-whether it's romantic love, familial love, hate, anger, whatever feeling you could imagine! Unless of course, I join your Sensory Link!"

He was quite baffled at how she could immediately shift from being an annoying little jest to someone capable of explaining seemingly serious things in a lighter tone. Because of this, he didn't notice how she clenched her hand into a fist and then began pounding it on his chest three times. Afterwards, the seal on his wrist vanished.

Lyon looked at the area where she hit him. "What was that for?"

She only grinned mischievously. "Nothing. Thank you for being a good sport!"

He only huffed in annoyance, remembering what she did to him earlier.

"You're so kind," she added. The comment caught him off-guard, and for some reason, seeing her with a more sincere smile made his cheeks warm.

"Of course. How could you do that to the gentlemanly me who chose to accompany you here?"

"Sorry. I'll make it up to you next time."

_Next time?_

"Meredy, Lyon-sama!"

The two shifted their heads to the source of the voice, and they saw their companions coming out from the exit gate of the attraction.

Juvia ran towards them, with Gray lagging behind. "Meredy, Meredy! You'll never guess what happened!" The water mage proceeded to share how she had the most romantic time of her life, plus, how Gray outrightly exclaimed that he felt something pounding on his chest thrice, which Juvia automatically assumed that it was his heart saying "I love you."

Meredy only chuckled.

At the same time, though in a less detailed manner, Gray began to share to Lyon how decent the ride was and how he actually enjoyed the effects, though for some reason, his emotions immediately shifted into intense frustration upon seeing the giant cupid towards the end. It dawned to Lyon how that phenomenon happened, but he wasn't going to admit his little game with Meredy anyway, so he joked that the cupid probably reminded him of Ichiya.

To his surprise, Gray actually agreed.

And then he heard the sound of laughter coming out of Meredy's mouth, and soon, he realized that he was laughing with her as well.

She was definitely amusing. Odd, but amusing.


	3. Potato

The previous month, the remaining members of Crime Sorcière and Oración Seis had been freed of their charges from the Magic Council. Various debates amongst the new council arose, one sector voting for the arrest of the former criminals, while the other for their freedom. After several deliberations, the latter sector won, justifying that they played a vital role in the eradication of the evils caused by dark guild Tartaros. They gave valuable service for the citizens of Fiore with their action, which they thought had already equated to their supposed years of sentence.

Certain measures were still to be followed however, and they were allowed to be free, live amongst people, and be regarded as criminals no longer provided that: they swear to work together with the council to eradicate the remaining dark guilds in the country; never to allow themselves be part of dark organizations again; and not to engage themselves in law-breaking acts. Furthermore, they had to live together in the quarters that the council prepared, for security purposes.

He learned of this from Jura, who had become one of the jurors in the newly-reformed council.

"Thank you for delivering this package," the wizard saint, who was temporarily residing at Magnolia for his duties with the council, said to Lyon as the latter handed over a small parcel.

"It's no problem, Jura-san."

"I hope you and the others back in Lamia Scale are doing well."

Lyon nodded with a small smile. "We are. Though we quite miss your presence in the guild house."

"Duty calls for the new council, I'm afraid. But I should be back after all things are settled," Jura said while stroking his long beard, "For the mean time, I hope you won't mind if I ask you to deliver more packages in the coming weeks."

"Any time, Jura-san. It's a pleasure of mine."

As the two of them were about to bid their goodbyes, a booming voice was heard from behind the bald man.

"Jura-san, my friend! It's been a while!"

Jura appeared to recognize the voice and turned around, then greeting an enormous man with polygonal features and orange locks.

"Ah, Richard-dono, I'm glad to see you well! It's been years since we last saw each other."

The man gave out a hearty laugh as he reached out a potato from his bag. "Hohoho! Of course! Apart from your presence, I'd recognize that head anywhere!"

He also exchanged a friendly greeting to Lyon, which he returned politely. For the ice mage, he was also a familiar face. His past name had been Hoteye, a money-loving dark mage who once engaged in combat with the wizard saint when they fought Oración Seis. At present however, he was more of a prophet of love than anything else, making Lyon think that he'd easily get along with Sherry and Chelia.

"There you are, Richard!" another voice interjected, this time, female, "I've been looking all over for you!"

The voice was familiar, Lyon thought, as the three of them turned their heads in-sync at the source of the voice.

"Oh! Meredy-san! My apologies!"

Ah, it was _her_ , of course. His favorite person of the previous day, who, at the moment, was carrying a paper bag seemingly full of vegetables. A big pillow also appeared to be strapped on her back.

Richard explained that he was shopping for groceries with Meredy that day and that the girl became too distracted with her youth that he lost her amongst the crowd.

"Hey, it wasn't me who got lost," the pinkette protested, "I was in the middle of choosing the fluffiest pillow for Macbeth when you suddenly disappeared!"

"Hohoho, you caught me," Richard admitted, fiddling his moustache nervously, "I actually caught a glimpse of a super potato sale in one aisle, and I couldn't let that opportunity pass! See?" He proudly displayed the sack of potatoes around on one of his arms.

"Which reminds me, Richard-dono," Jura interposed, "There is a delegation right now amongst earth magic users regarding a project funded by the Agricultural Committee, and as a wizard skilled with such, I extend my invitation for you to join us."

Richard grinned with much glee. "Of course! Of course! Anything for the benefit of love, youth, and all of Earthland! These groceries, however, which include essential toiletries such as Sorano's shampoo and Erik's favorite earplugs...! They need to be brought home immediately with Meredy-san!"

The polygonally-shaped man suddenly turned to Lyon.

With sparkling, dark eyes.

Lyon gulped.

In the end, they ended up together once more. With a bag of vegetables (and potatoes) in hand.

"Thanks for agreeing to help me with all of these," Meredy said, peeking at him sideways from the vegetables in front of her.

"Actually, I was going to volunteer anyway," Lyon said, who had his hands full of the groceries previously held by Richard, "It would be rather ungentlemanly of me to let you carry all of these all the way back home, right?"

Meredy chuckled at the familiarity of his words. "Charming, aren't you? I thought it was Richard's speech of love and youth which got you helping me!"

He smirked. "Where are we headed to, anyway?"

"Our home within the woods of Magnolia, just a few minutes walk from the entrance. The council situated us there, 'for security purposes,' they say. But I bet what they really want to say is 'we are still very wary of you!'" She sighed, displaying a sad smile. "Can't blame them, of course."

Lyon only observed her quietly.

"But I guess it's okay though, even though we're in monitored quarters, we're pretty much free to do whatever we want as long as we don't break our oaths. This is way much better than being on the run, I think."

"I see," Lyon finally responded, "I guess you just need to show them that you guys are really on the same side now."

The corners of her lips curved upwards in a happier way. "Yeah. Jellal, Richard and the others, they all just had unfortunate pasts which moulded them into what they had been, but deep down, they're really good people."

" _Wouldn't that include you, too_?" he thought of asking, but she continued to speak.

"Good people, they are, but really lazy too!" The vegetables inside the bag began to rattle with her sudden ranting. "My goodness, they're going to be the death of me!"

Lyon almost snorted with the shift of her mood. "What made you say that?"

"These groceries, I mean! No one but Richard was willing to go with me! Don't get me started on the cleaning duties! I swear, they got way too used to their sedentary lifestyles in prison!"

"How about Jellal, then?"

She shrugged. "He said he would be accompanying Erza in the park today. He wouldn't admit it's a date, though. So frustrating!"

He tried to suppress his laughter. "Well, why don't you assign them a task per week?" he suggested, as they took a turn towards one of the streets, nearing the entrance gates of Magnolia, "Like if they don't follow it, no food or supplies and the like."

"Ohhh, that is a good idea!" Meredy beamed as she hugged her bag excitedly. "I'll try that! I'd start delegating each task per week as soon as I get home. If they don't follow it, they can just go die of hunger or something!"

He tried not to be disturbed with the way her smiling face turned dark with her last statement.

Soon, they managed to reach their quarters. It was a relatively small building with simple structures surrounded by trees.

"You can leave them here," she said, pointing towards the doorstep, "Thanks for accompanying me again. It sure made my walk seem shorter, I almost didn't notice that we were already here!"

He had just placed the groceries by the door. "No problem. I'll be taking my leave, then."

"Wait!" she managed to say before he could turn around, as she reached out her arm to him with something on her hand.

A potato?

The questioning look on his face prompted her to speak.

"I did say I'll make it up to you yesterday, right? You're welcome!"

He shook his head in amusement as he reached out his hand to claim the brown vegetable. "You're only supposed to say that after I say, 'thank you.'"

She only grinned back as she waved him goodbye.

He stared at the vegetable in his hand. He could not help but smile.

Really amusing, she was.

Walking towards Magnolia again, his mind was too preoccupied that he did not notice Juvia and Gray walking the opposite direction.

"Is that...Lyon-sama?" the water mage asked, turning her head to the withdrawing form of the silver-haired male. "He seems very happy though! Juvia wonders why."

Gray did not miss the sight of the potato in his hand. Questions raised on his mind, but he decided to conclude, "I bet he's just going crazy."


	4. Captured

He was sitting alone on a bench in the middle of the park by the time she arrived. Her eyes were fixated on something she was holding in front of her, so she did not seem to notice his presence from afar.

"Hey, look who's here," he greeted pleasantly by the time she was near enough. The look of surprise in her face confirmed that she too was not expecting him. "I didn't know you'd be here."

"Oh, neither did I!" she replied in a similar good-natured manner. She strode her way towards the bench he was sitting on. "Juvia didn't tell me you'd be here too. Good to see you again."

"Likewise," he said as he watched her sit down on the empty spot beside him.

Yesterday he received a message from the water mage, inviting him to a fire-display show organized by a friend of her. While he was more a fan of anything involving lower temperatures himself, he accepted her invitation out of courtesy. Besides, he would be heading to Magnolia anyway for another package for Jura.

"So, where are they, anyway?" she asked while side-glancing at him, "I assume Gray is also here?"

"He is. They left a while ago to purchase the tickets for the show. If it weren't for me, Juvia would've bought them by herself."

Meredy took note of the rather irate tone of his voice and smirked in amusement. "Why? What happened earlier?"

He scratched the back of his neck with annoyance. "The three of us arrived here pretty much at the same time. Juvia said that she could go and buy the tickets already while we wait here. Gray really seemed like he was going to let her buy them by herself, so I volunteered to escort her. It was only then when that idiot stood up and said he'd accompany her instead."

"Aww, how sweet!" the pinkette exclaimed as she dropped the thing she was holding earlier on her lap. It was one of those lacrima-powered mobile devices. "Are you playing the 'bad guy' on purpose to give Gray a little push?"

He sighed in defeat. "He's really hopeless. Even I wouldn't say he's not interested in her. He's just too stubborn to admit it."

"I see. I was kinda wondering what's your motivation for staying around."

"Don't get me wrong, though," he said as he leaned his elbow on the back support of the bench, "This is more for Juvia. If that idiot still would not accept her feelings, I won't hesitate to sweep her off her feet again."

She only gave him a knowing smile. "Okay, if you say so."

When the atmosphere was quiet again, Lyon glanced over at her and learned that she was preoccupied with her device once more. She noticed him looking at her.

"Aii, sorry! I hope you don't find me rude for playing." Her face flushed pink in embarrassment. "To be honest I was expecting that I'd be alone today while waiting for them, so I brought this! Just let me finish this battle so I could save my progress, then I'll keep it in my bag."

He shook his head affably. "I don't mind. What are you playing, anyway?"

Her emerald orbs remained glued on the screen. "It's CaptchaMon."

"Cupcha-what?"

"Capt-cha-Mon!" she corrected, stressing greatly on each syllables of the word. "Basically your aim here is to capture these monsters, train them, and win battles against other trainers so you'd become the great CaptchaMon Champion!"

Seeing her enthusiasm, he tried to subdue a laugh while her fingers continued pressing vigorously on the screen. "Sounds pretty interesting."

"It is," she responded as she commanded her CaptchaMon to launch a powerful sun beam at her opponent, bringing its health points down.

The park was generally peaceful that day, and only the resonate sounds of Meredy's tapping fingers were heard. Lyon gradually grew content in watching her command her virtual battle pets until she offered her device for him to play with. "You should try it. It's really fun!"

"I'd rather watch you play, " he declined politely, "Besides, I don't really know how to play..."

"No no no! I insist!" She shoved her pink device on his hands. "I'll even teach you! It's pretty easy!"

The next thing he knew, she was giving him a crash course on the virtual game, patiently explaining the mechanics as Lyon maneuvered the player in the pixelated universe. Minutes passed and the quiet discussions soon erupted into passionate CaptchaMon outbursts.

"No! Why did you bring out Icee-kun against his Fire Chameleon? Don't you know that ice-types are weak against fire?!"

"In what universe is ice weak against fire?!"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the CaptchaMon universe?!"

"Ridiculous! I'll just overpower him with Icee-kun's superior ice moves! Icee-kun has the level advantage, anyway!"

The banter went on until Lyon emerged victorious, with Icee-kun barely having any health points left. Meredy sighed in relief.

From the distance, Juvia and Gray witnessed their rather animated exchange.

"Looks like Meredy's there already," Gray uttered with the tickets in hand. "Well, they seem to be having fun. Is that the reason why you invited them over?"

"Yes, they seem to be getting along quite well," Juvia admitted as she continued watching them, "Plus, the potatoes are in their favour!"

Gray gave her a weird look. This girl really spouted some odd words sometimes. "Potatoes?"

In the back of Juvia's mind, she somehow interconnected the image of Lyon staring happily at a potato two weeks ago, along with the sack of potatoes on Meredy's front door when they visited her on the same day.

The blue-haired mage giggled. "Nothing. Let's call them now, Gray-sama. Totomaru-kun's fire show will be starting soon!"


	5. Pandemonium

Fiore had been thankfully a lot more peaceful weeks after the defeat of the dark guild Tartaros. The fall of the last of the Balam Alliance certainly provided relief for the citizens of the country, magic users and ordinary persons alike.

Lyon passed by the Kardia Cathedral, one of the major casualties in Magnolia brought upon by the terror of Tartaros. Reconstruction efforts were being made for the massive building after it was pulverized by an enormous cube monster. Infrastructures were not the only things affected, unfortunately; even the agricultural fields where the giant Faces erupted from were desolated. It caused a great lack of food supply at first, not only for Magnolia but to neighboring cities as well. However, with the efforts of diligent mages who took initiative and stepped up for the greater good, they ultimately recovered.

And now they were at the height of recovery, where the crops were flourishing greatly once more. It called for a celebration in Magnolia, whose citizens grew to love festivals, probably with the influence of a certain guild residing in the city, Lyon thought.

The festival was also the reason for his presence in the city. Jura, one of the leaders of the Agricultural Committee, had already informed him of the event beforehand, so he was not surprised when Juvia invited him for another get-together.

_A big festival for good harvest will happen in Magnolia this week. There will be a program like amazing fruit slicing and Juvia has front row tickets. Gray-sama and Meredy will be there. Hope you can come!_

Those were the words from Juvia's note. He would be lying if he said there was not even a slight tingle in his heart upon reading her message. After all, he did like the water mage, and who would not be happy receiving an invitation from a person you admire? The feelings never really went away, even if he did give up in pursuing her.

He took a turn towards one of the streets, on the way to the park where they were supposed to meet.

It made him think about Meredy's words. What was his motivation for staying around? Was he still clinging to a chance for Juvia to reciprocate his feelings? Ever since the amusement park incident, they had been seeing each other more frequently. Juvia was also becoming more comfortable with him, unlike being generally uneasy whenever he made an advance on her before. Heck, she was even inviting him to hang out with her!

He then shook his head.

Reality check: the fact that Juvia was extending her invitation to him really meant that she simply saw him as a friend.

He checked his watch (which he was actually wearing this time) and saw that he was twenty minutes late from their meeting time. He walked with greater stance. Gray and Juvia were probably there already.

Scratch that. They probably weren't, since a certain pink-haired girl must've found a way to let them spend their time alone with each other.

Just as he had expected, Meredy was already there, sitting on the bench.

But she was not alone.

Three men were surrounding her at that moment.

Three _awfully_ familiar men.

Something inside him ticked and he strode even faster.

"What is a beautiful lady like you doing here alone?" the one with bright blond hair asked.

The taller who had brownish blond locks spoke as well. "Would you like to join me in watching the parade later?"

"Aaaaah my lovely lady, you have such great fragrance!" the shortest of the bunch wearing a white tuxedo exclaimed with immense grace, reaching his hand to touch Meredy's, "If may I ask what parfum you are using-"

Before the man was able to do so however, another hand fell on his shoulder. Subsequently, the said shoulder was gradually being covered with ice.

"What is going on here?" Lyon interjected with irritation. He eyed the men present-the Trimens of Blue Pegasus...minus the dark-skinned one. They all turned their heads to him.

"Oh, hi Lyon," Meredy greeted casually, waving a hand. Only when he saw her untroubled face did he release his hand from the other man who literally obtained a cold shoulder.

"Ah, if it isn't Lyon Vastia-san," Hibiki said with his signature Blue Pegasus smile, "We were simply passing by and-"

"-we saw this beautiful flower all alone in the field-" the snow wizard Eve continued, giving off the same sparkly grin.

"-we simply had to approach her and appreciate her FRAGRANCE," their leader Ichiya exclaimed passionately while rubbing off the coldness from his shoulder.

Lyon was far from amused for some reason. He concluded that he generally found the presence of Blue Pegasus men annoying. "I see, then you may take your leave now."

Hibiki shrugged. "I don't see why we should."

Eve shrugged as well. "This is a free country, after all."

Ichiya nodded his head. "Right, right!" Without warning he pointed his finger towards the ice mage. "Unless of course, you are exclusively dating this lovely lady!"

Lyon was beyond irritated.

"And what if I am?!" he snapped without thinking. Truthfully there was no meaning behind what he had exclaimed, only plain frustration as he wanted them to just leave the vicinity. He began to regret it when he realized that he must've said the words louder than what he intended.

Because everyone in the park was looking at them already.

"Lyon? Is that you?" A familiar female voice joined in.

Chelia.

Lyon buried his face in his own hands. "Great. Just great."

A deep male voice was also heard. "Meredy?"

"Oh, Jellal!"

Everything around Lyon seemed to go in slow motion as he observed the crowd forming around him.

There was Meredy on the bench, surrounded by the three Blue Pegasus idiots...

And then there was Chelia, who apparently was also with Sherry and that other Blue Pegasus idiot fiancé of her.

There was also Jellal...who appeared to be with Erza the Titania.

For some reason, Lyon felt he was being sucked into a complicated hell hole.

Then everyone began talking.

"Lyon! Did you just say what I think you said?!"

"Did an angel fall from the sky?"

"No, it's actually a sky goddess!"

"A-ah! Hibiki-san~! Eve-san~! I-is this love?"

"Meredy...? You are dating someone...?"

"Now, Jellal, I don't see anything wrong with that."

"Hey, now! Look who's talking! It seems you two are finally dating!"

"N-NO WE ARE NOT!"

"Oh my, love is all over the place..."

"Not as much as I love you, Sherry... N-not that I actually mean that!"

"Oh, Ren~!"

"If it isn't Ren and the lovely Miss Sherry! The PARFUM OF LOVE is so strong in you!"

Lyon was becoming dizzy. When everyone was too preoccupied, Lyon turned to Meredy, who was snickering from her teasing of her blue-haired guildmate. As soon as she looked back at him, he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the crowd.

Meredy was the first to speak as they walked away. "Hey, where are we going? How about Gray and Juvia?"

Lyon rubbed his temples with his free hand. "I just need to clear my head and... Where exactly are they anyway?"

"I sent them away to buy us some food for the program."

Just as he suspected. "Well, you shouldn't have."

Meredy pulled her hand away from him, causing them to halt in their tracks. Her face displayed confusion. "Is there a problem?"

Lyon crossed his arms. "I still don't understand why you do it."

"I have explained it to you last time right? I don't mind as long as Juvia is happy."

"But how about you? Weren't you thinking about yourself?"

Meredy pursed her lips together to suppress a laugh. "You're starting to sound like Jellal! Relax, will you? If you were worried about me being with those three guys earlier, I can protect myself. Have you forgotten that I was once a wanted criminal?"

Lyon's face turned into a bright shade of pink. "I just don't really trust those guys. Sorry about the lie, though. I'll explain everything to Chelia and the others tomorrow."

Meredy tried to suppress her laugh. "It's okay. I know you meant well anyway. But don't you think that by kidnapping me from the crowd, you're reinforcing the thought that we are actually dating?"

"Shit. Haven't thought of that. I should explain as soon as possible, then."

She grinned sheepishly. "Guess I have to explain it to Jellal too. I hope he believes me, though. He worries too much."

Lyon placed a hand under his chin. "On the second thought... I actually don't mind this arrangement. It should keep Chelia from bothering me."

"Hey! Now you're being selfish. Didn't you see the way she was glaring at me a while ago?"

And then he laughed, saying how he was only kidding. As he watched the way she pouted and crossed her arms, he made a mental note that he would no longer be late the next time they meet.

By the time Gray and Juvia arrived at the meeting place, no trace of the earlier crowd was left.

"Now, where did Lyon-sama and Meredy go?" the water mage said, who was holding two cups of juice.

Gray shrugged as he surveyed the surroundings. "Dunno. They must be here somewhere. Let's wait for them."

And they sat on the bench in silence, watching the passers-by. Gray munched on some caramel popcorn while Juvia was humming a tune contentedly.

And then the Trimens passed by and greeted them. As Gray was about to nod back in greeting, he was taken aback when they winked at Juvia.

And to his even greater surprise, Juvia winked back with a smile.

Gray had to shake his head to see that he wasn't hallucinating, but the moment had already passed and Juvia was again humming.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Gray-sama?" The blue-haired mage only gave an innocent smile.

And now he was irritated. Was it really just his imagination? Why was he even flustered, anyway? It must be just Ichiya reminding him of that stupid cupid from before, he convinced himself.

While Gray was having an internal turmoil beside her, Juvia's mind was thoroughly pleased that her plan had worked out. Now, they just had to wait for the arrival of her two friends...together.


	6. Fruitful Meetings

As a well-known S-class wizard of Lamia Scale, job requests specifically asking for Lyon's assistance was not unusual. The nature of them sometimes varied; they were either extremely difficult and dangerous—possibly life-threatening if taken by a wizard of lesser power— or they were unusual. And weird. Not that he minded, they usually provided him with generous rewards which otherwise sustained his daily needs and wants, if not excessively. Although, most of his excess money were spent on the clothing department lately...

He blamed Gray for this.

For the past years he had trained himself to lose clothing only when necessary. Such as when battling. Wherein he needed to channel the cold better with his exposed body, as taught by their Master Ur.

However, that did not seem to be the case as of late. One time, when he was walking by the streets, he found himself unknowingly unbuttoning his top, only stopping midway when he heard Toby's voice asking what he was doing.

"I was simply practicing my skills in buttoning and unbuttoning my shirt," Lyon replied as he enveloped his best poker face, hopefully masking the embarrassment of being caught stripping. Almost.

"Out in the streets?"

"Yes," he replied, glaring icily at him, "Is there a problem?"

Toby squeaked like a scared puppy and shook his head nervously. Thankfully he dropped the whole issue.

That asshole Gray, bringing back unwanted habits. Lyon felt he should avoid him like he was some sort of infectious disease. That's how people should treat him to be honest, with that ugly face of his. Lyon snorted.

But of course, rewards were not always monetary. Sometimes they were items of great value...or things that piqued his interest a lot.

Such as the one written on his request form.

_Please search and hand over to me the best ice creams in Magnolia. In return, I shall give you a memento of the Great Ice Wizard, Ur._

Never mind the oddness of the request, because Lyon greatly questioned its authenticity. Now who on Earthland would have something from Ur? A friend, perhaps?

Lyon shook his head.

While he was not aware of the specifics, he knew that Ur pretty much lived her life as a hermit before she took them in with her. He never heard of her husband either, and Lyon assumed he was either dead or went to a faraway land and never returned. Besides, he was pretty sure the reason why she chose to be in solitude was that she did not have any family left. Maybe it was a friend, no matter how much of a loner his master was...

Wait.

Ur did have some family left. Granted, this hunched person was a wanted criminal, but she is alive and well, right?

Lyon further scrunched his eyebrows, burying a hand under his chin in deep contemplation.

Nothing was making any sense.

Because why would she, Ur's only daughter, give out a memento of her own mother to the latter's student? Did something happen...?

Just when he thought that things could not get any more complicated, he suddenly noticed that there was another confusing thing to the equation. Shouldn't Ultear be with Meredy and Jellal and the other former criminals in that shelter in the woods? Now that he think about it, he never recalled an instance wherein Meredy mentioned something about his master's daughter recently. Or maybe it was just a coincidence that there was nothing to share about Ultear at the moment?

One thing left to do to find out.

After packing up some necessary items—money, the request form, and extra clothes, just in case, he ventured to Magnolia for his job request, but before going over the markets and ice cream parlors, he opted to visit the Fairy Tail guild house to talk to Gray regarding the questions that lingered in his mind earlier. However, his idiot brother was nowhere to be seen. Apparently he also received the same request and was similarly embarking on the quest for the best ice sweets in town.

So much for answered questions. Guess it's time to start his journey too. But where to begin?

He surveyed the streets outside the guild house, and spotted a particularly pink shop decorated bright pictures of cupcakes and flowers and jackpot, ICE CREAM.

"Stop number one, here we go," Lyon said to himself, producing an ice box with a trolley as a container for his goods. As he approached the shop, he noticed a tall figure with a blond mohawk sitting on one of the chairs in front of the establishment, with some paper bags full of groceries around him. That particularly long nose, he wouldn't forget it easily of course, not when he shared an almost death-defying stunt with him years ago. It was just a stunt that involved a dangerous lacrima time-bomb and jumping off cliffs, after all. Nothing big, nope.

Seeing him turning his head towards Lyon, the ice mage knew his presence was not ignored. He was still wearing his sunglasses, yet Lyon was sure he was looking at him. The scowl on his face was the sign.

"Fancy seeing you here again, of all places," Lyon decided to greet him, thinking there was no point in feigning that they did not know of each other's existence at present, not when their eyes clashed.

"Not really expecting you to be at this place, either, to be honest," Racer replied, shrugging, still with the unamused look on his face. He raised one of his weirdly-shaped eyebrows and gazed at the ice trolley behind him, which was not unnoticed by the ice wizard.

"It's for a job request," Lyon answered, to which the other shrugged again. "I heard from," Lyon paused, unsure how to regard Meredy exactly, "an acquaintance that you live among the woods now. I do hope your living arrangements as of the moment are suitable for your needs."

"It is. A bit stuffy sometimes but it's enough for all seven of us."

Hmm. Seven? Minus him, Meredy, Jellal, and Richard, there are three more... Was Ultear among them?

Lyon lowered his head, pondering.

How many were the members of Oracion Seis again?

Before he was able to process it, he saw that Racer was giving him a weird look. Lyon coughed.

"I see. Good to hear, then."

He debated whether to ask him of his other companions just so he could have a peace of mind, but the sour look on the ex-criminal was already an indication that he didn't want the conversation to press further. Looks like someone is still bitter about his defeat 8 years ago. Lyon sniggered, in his mind only of course, because he still had lots of questions on his mind and this guy may be a way for them to be answered. For that, any wrinkles in the past should be straightened.

"Look, I know our first interaction was not exactly friendly, but I see no point in being hostile towards each other now that we are both considered legal citizens of this continent."

The frown seemed to lessen from Racer's face, but it was still there. Lyon sighed, trying again.

"I'll be honest, I do find you a formidable opponent, Racer. I would not mind if we were to fight once more, in friendlier terms, of course."

The ice wizard reached out his hand, and Racer only stared at it. Come on, take it, Lyon thought, fighting the urge to tap his foot impatiently.

And finally, he did, much to Lyon's relief.

"Fine," Racer said, the corners on his mouth turning upwards. "You do have a point. Jellal did say we should make amends with whoever we wronged in the past. You can just call me Sawyer, by the way."

"Alright, Sawyer," he replied, as he brought his hand to back to his side after the handshake. "I don't think we've had proper introductions in the past. I am-"

Without warning the door of the ice cream parlor opened with a loud SMACK, hitting Lyon hard on the face before he could utter his name. The jiggling of the bell hanging over the door and a female voice frantically flooding his eardrums with apologies were the only sounds registering on his dizzy head. Whoever it was was going to pay-

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

His eyes met with the face of a beautiful angel, and he knew he must have been hallucinating. She helped pulling him up to his feet and dusted the dirt from his clothes. His head became clearer, and he learned that indeed, she was not a real ethereal being from the heavens.

"Helloooo? Is anyone there?" she snapped her fingers in front of him, totally sending him back to reality. Definitely not an angel. A little she-demon was more appropriate, perhaps.

"I am quite fine, Meredy," Lyon gritted his teeth, trying to mask his annoyance. He rubbed the sore part of his cheek, which she noticed because immediately she slid her hand in between his own and his face, delicately turning his head. Suddenly, whatever anger he felt melted away and was replaced by a warmer, tender sensation, making his cheeks even redder.

"You sure you're okay, man?" Sawyer said, towering behind Meredy who then grabbed a can of half-pint ice cream-wherever it came from. She carefully dapped it on his cheek, and for a moment, he forgot the question Racer raised to him as he observed the genuine worry from the girl in front of him. It lasted for a few seconds before Lyon briskly pushed away the chilly can, recovering from the dumb face he realized he was displaying to both of them.

"I can create my own ice bag, thank you," Lyon mentioned to Meredy, as he covered his own palm with a sheet of ice to relieve his bruise. "Besides, this is nothing serious."

Meredy only pouted, which he somehow found adorable. Lyon turned to her guild mate.

"And yes, I am still quite fine, Sawyer, thank you."

"Oh, I see you guys have already met!" She blurted out, jumping once, _okay_ , twice with glee. Somehow, Lyon also found this quite adorable.

"Actually, we met each other years back," Sawyer pointed out, to which Lyon nodded.

"Oh."

"As enemies."

Lyon nodded again.

"I see!" Meredy also nodded with understanding. "Well, I think that's great though. In my experience, my enemies in the past became my friends at present!"

"Such optimism coming from you," Lyon said, chuckling.

After sharing a momentary laugh with him, she gasped dramatically, and then clasped her two hands in front of her face. "I'm truly sorry for what happened earlier, Lyon!"

"Wait a minute. His name is 'Lyon?'" Sawyer suddenly interjected with disbelief. Surprised with the change of his tone, Lyon gazed at him, only to find out that he was once again sporting his signature scowl. "So you're the guy who wants to get on Meredy's pants?"

"That's a rather...interesting terminology," Lyon muttered, not really knowing what to say, "However, I do believe there is a big misunderstanding here."

"Don't believe everything that Jellal says!" She was pouting again. He wanted to pinch her cheeks, though he felt like she's the type to pinch back...And considering his very tender cheeks, it would be an unwise decision. "Lyon's just my friend!"

Her friend. Interesting. She considers him as a friend. Perhaps, she is one of the fairies at heart.

"Likewise, I also treat her as a friend." Lyon added. If she was going to consider him as her friend, might as well consider her as one of his too. Besides, they are on each other's CaptchaMon's buddy list, right?

Sawyer huffed. "Fine, if you say so. Maybe Jellal is just a bit paranoid."

Meredy rolled her eyes exasperatingly. "Not a bit. More like, over!" She sighed. "What's with the ice trolley though, Lyon?"

Lyon sneered confidently. "Oh, it's for a job."

Meredy's eyes twinkled with curiosity. "Ohhhh what kind of job?"

"I'm on a quest for-" Lyon stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing the _uniqueness_ of his job request... He was unsure whether he'd be judged by the nature of it. With that, he decided that it should be as vague as possible. Because vagueness is coolness. "I'm on a quest."

"A quest for?"

Ugh. Such a nosy girl.

"A quest for the best," he decided. Still vague and mysterious. Cool sounding yet.

"Quest for the best what?"

A sigh.

"I'm on a quest in search for the best frozen treats that would satisfy the sweet tooth of my client."

Meredy had a hand under her chin. "So basically you're looking for the best ice creams here?"

"...Yes." He said in defeat. Guess there was no escaping this little she-demon. He anticipated the teasing, girly giggliest laugh in 3, 2, 1...

"Wow, that sounds fun! Can I join you?"

Wait, what?

"You're not coming home with me, then, Meredy?" He heard Sawyer ask, as he started gathering the paper bags from the table.

"If it's okay with you. Would you be able to carry them all back at home, Sawyer? Including these cans of ice cream they requested," she said, handing him a bag of cans that Lyon only noticed then. Apparently that's where she took the one she placed on his cheek.

"No sweat. I'll be back home with these in no time. I wasn't called 'Racer' for nothing you know." Sawyer gave a reassuring smile before it faded into a frown. "I'm more worried about you though," he added, glaring at Lyon beneath the sunglasses.

Meredy crossed her arms in a seemingly childish way. "Now you're sounding like Jellal too! Don't worry, you know what I'm capable of, right?"

Sawyer huffed another deep breath and then shook his head. "Okay then. I'll see you later." He turned to Lyon. "Hey. Don't try to do anything funny. Or else, our future fight may not be so friendly at all."

Lyon only smirked at his threat. "I won't. Whatever circumstance it may be, I look forward to that sparring nevertheless."

Sawyer simply huffed again—such a huffy man—before sprinting off with the bags, drifting away like a tall shopping cart on the loose.

"Is everyone like that to you in your guild?" Lyon found himself asking her.

"Mostly it's Jellal. Probably because he thinks I'm still like 12, which is really annoying." She crossed her arms, wheezing. "Sawyer usually doesn't mind what I do although I think Jellal's rubbing on him too much. Richard always gives outbursts of reminders which I don't really mind. Erik's annoying too with his ultra-hearing thing but he usually minds his own business, just like Macbeth, who I think doesn't care at all. And there's Sorano, minds her own business too but gives out advices. She doesn't preach though, thankfully."

"I see. That's rather unfortunate," Lyon could only comment. He then realized that she pretty much enumerated the housemates he was curious about. That makes seven!

And that also confirms the other suspicion: there was no Ultear in the house. Which supports the other hypothesis.

Ultear could be the client.

But again, why would she give out a memento of Ur? And why was Ultear not with them in the first place?

Of course, he knew the key to one of the questions is with the very girl he is with, yet, he felt something rather unsettling about asking Meredy about her mother figure... He knew there must've been a serious reason why Ultear was not there. And he felt should he ask Meredy about it at present, he might be demoted from the friend status, which is definitely not desired.

Thankfully, Meredy seemed to be preoccupied with her problems while he was pondering in his own world. "They say it's probably due to the generation gap. Since he's already like 27 and we're almost seven years apart I think."

"Oh, same as me, then." Lyon carelessly thought to point out.

She pointed her index finger up as a matter-of-factly. "Wow, you're as old as Jellal, then!"

Lyon feigned a hurt expression. "You make it seem like being 'old' is such a bad thing… Although, I prefer the term "more experienced" myself."

"Well, all my life I've always been surrounded by people a lot older than me, always treating me like some kid sister even when I'm no longer a teenager." She slouched her back dejectedly. "Somehow it makes me glad that Juvia and the others didn't age for seven years; at least I get to spend time with others near my age."

"You are aware that you are talking to one of the 'adults,' seeing as how you classify us." Lyon shifted his weight and turned to face her, flexing his back forward so he met her eye to eye. "However, I'll have you know that I do not see you as a child, as we did not grow up together, and I will gladly treat you as you desire, and perhaps, even demonstrate to you my _experiences_ should you wish it."

Wide eyed, she stood motionlessly at their close proximity for a few seconds before her face turned bright red, understanding his insinuations. "Lyon! Stop it, you're being creepy!"

"I'm kidding, of course," he chuckled loudly, then pinching her cheeks out of impulse. She growled like an angry little squirrel and quickly pinched him back—just as he anticipated, but gratefully at the unaffected side. At least she was considerate. "Let's go into more important matters, shall we?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. The ice creams, of course! I'm surprised that you let me come along with you, though!

"Given the numbers of cans you were carrying which resulted to the tremendous accident," Lyon emphasized while touching his affected face, "I assume you are quite the ice cream connoisseur."

Meredy let out a rather unladylike snort. "Actually, it's more of me knowing which ice cream flavor each of us likes best. Sawyer simply asked me for help. But thank you for your trust! I will try not to disappoint!" And she gave her thumbs up. "Please allow me, your ice cream specialist assistant, to aid you in your quest!"

Such refreshing optimism.

"And in our quest, I would gladly lead you to my top five ice cream parlors here in Magnolia." She pointed at the frilly pink store in front of them. " _'Rainbow Ice and Creams'_ happens to be number 2. Best known for their six distinct ice cream flavors. The add-ons that you can request definitely makes them more unique and fun!"

Fascinating. She has such enthusiasm for this type of thing that she even has rankings for them, apparently. Lyon wondered to what extent she ranks these types of things… But that would be a question for another day.

For the next few hours they travelled along the outskirts of Magnolia, with Meredy leading the way. He was astonished with her seemingly undying eagerness despite the distance between each place. Along the way they had rather interesting conversations about their guild mates and friends.

One of the topics happened to be Gray.

"You know, there's something I noticed about your treatment towards Gray." She said after going over their second stop.

"Hmm, and what is that?"

"You love him more than you'll ever admit, and... Wait! I'm actually serious now. I don't mean that in a romantic way. You know what I'm talking about."

Lyon raised a thin brow, giving her a weird look. "Okay. So what are you insinuating?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to point that out. I mean, maybe instead of having this _I hate Gray_ act and seemingly wanting to argue just for the sake of arguing, it's nice to also just get along sometimes."

A food for thought eh.

"Hmph, I'll take that into consideration. Let's move on to another topic, shall we?"

And bless the Ishgar gods because she did, and she ended up talking about her living companions instead. Lyon concluded that both of them have a fair share of oddness when it comes to their companions. It went on even towards their last stop near the park, which was apparently the top one from her list.

Unsurprisingly, a denser amount of people were gathering among the spot where apparently the shop was.

"You know, there's this hilarious incident involving Macbeth and the bathroom though. He—" A large passerby hit Meredy on the shoulder, almost sending her crashing into Lyon. He caught her by reflex before she dropped to the ground.

"Rude," Lyon vehemently spat as he glared at the passerby who didn't even look back for an apology.

"It's okay. I'm fine," Meredy said with assurance, standing straight up to her feet. "It's pretty common around these parts, especially since we're near number 1: ' _Wonder Ice!_ ' It's a small stall though, but it's the best around these parts, in my opinion."

"The best, eh." Thinking back at his job request, it did say that the client was looking for the _best_ ice cream there was. Now why didn't the thought of asking her to go to the top one stall enter his mind earlier, instead of wasting time going through the other four? Although, for some reason, he didn't really feel like the quest with Meredy in the other four stops was a waste of time.

Lyon looked at the crowded park, and then at his ice trolley, which contained four cans from the previous parlors.

Then again, it was probably safer if Lyon brought other back-up ice creams, just in case what Meredy considered as top one wasn't sufficient for the mystery client. Besides, the client did say best ice cream _s_ , so it was more than one? Perhaps vagueness is not really cool after all.

"Shall we go then?" Lyon turned to her, and she nodded back with glee.

"Of course!"

They sauntered towards the sea of people, only to be stopped by a commotion happening. From there, a loud, obnoxious declaration was heard from a large man, who Lyon recognized as the one pushed Meredy earlier. The said man began shoving away the people in line. One even howled in pain as they plummeted to the ground harshly. "Shut up! I demand you to give me all of your ice cream!"

Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, Lyon couldn't help but wrinkle his nose in disgust. "Well, looks like that fellow is as ill-mannered as ever."

"No kidding. That's not very nice." Meredy said with hate more apparent in her features. She started stomping towards the man only to be stopped by Lyon.

"Hey. Where do you think you're going?" Lyon uttered, pulling her beside him.

"Let go," she demanded, jostling her arm away from him. "I wanna teach that punk a lesson! Even I want my ice cream fast but I don't hurt other people for it."

Lyon only smirked, much to the confusion of the girl. "Actually, I think someone already beat you to it."

Abruptly an icy blast immersed from the site, making Meredy turn her head towards the source.

"Ice-make: Hammer!"

There was no mistaking it, that familiar, disgruntled voice only belonged to his beloved ice brother.

"Gray!" Meredy exclaimed excitedly, the corners of her lips elevating much as his. They watched as the fairy wizard singlehandedly pound the offender with his frost weapon, defeating him. In seconds the crowds cheered.

"That should give you a dose of your own medicine," Gray smugly said, rubbing his hands together as if dusting off some imaginary dirt.

Despite the thunderous happy cheers from the crowd, Lyon could not feel the festivity as he noted dark auras from ten, no, probably a dozen of men surrounding them. He assumed they were the companions of the rude bloke, who definitely were not amused by Gray's performance. He looked at Meredy, and it seemed that she noticed too.

"Bastard!" One of them grunted angrily, "You'll pay for that!" As the horde came charging towards Gray, the excited cheers were replaced by screams of panic and fear as the civilians fled from the scene, leaving Gray, Lyon, Meredy, and the fearful store owner who was cowering inside his tiny stall.

"WATER SLICER! Don't you dare touch Gray-sama!"

Oh, looks like Juvia was there too, successfully attacking one who charged behind Gray.

"Should we help?" Meredy asked, watching as the fairy duo fight against six of them, appearing capable of holding out on their own.

Lyon closed his eyes. "Actually, I think the ugly goons are personally extending their invitation to us," he said, quickly turning just in time to freeze one running behind them.

In a short span of time all four of them were included in the brawl, and from afar, various magical enchantments including those of water, ice, and floating sensory blades were seen, turning the park into a small battlefield.

Shortly, they emerged victorious, with the goons all wailing in pain on the stone ground, which became slippery from water and melted ice. Somehow, small craters and crevices were produced from their unexpected affray, and almost all of the nearby structures including the fountain and some benches were damaged, as if the place was struck by a massive typhoon.

"What brought you here, Lyon?" Gray asked, looking surprised at his presence.

"Similar to you I also have received a job request regarding the ice cream and whatnot." Lyon faced the ice cream stand with a barely readable sign due to being within the war zone. "Which, I presume, is also your goal here?"

Gray shrugged. "Yeah. So you received it too."

"GRAY-SAMA!" The boys turned to a hysterical Juvia, who was sobbing in a quite comical way. "Juvia failed to protect our collected ice cream! Please forgive Juvia!"

"Lyon," Meredy called, and he looked at her who was scratching the side of her cheek. "Looks like ours didn't survive too." She pointed at the destroyed ice trolley, with splattered ice cream cans surrounding it.

In the end, the relieved owner of the ice cream stall (who was still shaking) gave them the last surviving ice cream can which he managed to protect amidst the ruckus. Despite some minor arguments on who got to keep it (which was frowned upon by the pink she-demon), Gray and Lyon managed to have an agreement that the best course of action was to hand over the single ice cream can to the client together.

"Gray," Lyon uttered with a low tone after making sure that the girls were far enough from them, "I've been meaning to ask you about this earlier, but now seems to be the best time."

"What is it?"

Lyon took another glance at Meredy, who was engaging in eager chatter with Juvia, before speaking. "Do you happen to have any idea what happened to Ultear after the Grand Magic Games?"

The other's eyes widened in surprise briefly, before his face was enveloped in a darker expression. "Why did you bring her up, suddenly?"

"Have you ever wondered about the identity of our client? She has a memento of Ur... I have a hunch that it's Ultear, after all."

Gray frowned, though his eyes unreadable. "Why would she give out something from her mother, then?"

Lyon shrugged. "Maybe something happened to her. I don't know, but do you?"

The long pause from Gray seemed to tell that he knew something that he didn't. "We'll just see later on if it is her. If not, we're going to have a long talk later..."

"Given that uncertainty, do you think it's wise if we bring her along?" He motioned his eyes in Meredy's direction, and Gray understood instantly, though the younger ice mage seemed to ponder on it for a while.

"Maybe it's best if we don't bring her. Yet."

Lyon trusted his judgment enough; besides, Gray was a lot closer to Ur's daughter than he was.

Soon, they reached the address written on the request form. It was a simple house situated in a small town beside Magnolia. Before Juvia and Meredy could pass by the gate, Gray effectively blocked the way with his arm.

"And this is where you stay, ladies," Gray said, not minding the protests of the girls.

Juvia held onto Gray's outstretched arm. "Aww, Juvia wants to see the client and her reward!"

Meredy crossed her arms quite stubbornly. "Hmph. I'm curious about the reward too!"

Lyon quickly interjected, seeing Gray's struggle. "My greatest apologies, our lovely ladies, however, our client has explicitly stated in the form that she is a rather private person and would only like to see our presence." He brought out the request form which Meredy tried to claw out from his grasp; luckily he was quicker to swipe it away.

Juvia placed a hand on Meredy's shoulder. "Let us stay here, Meredy, and wait for them. We cannot do anything if that's the wish of the client."

Meredy let out a sigh. "Okay, fine. We understand. But do tell us what happened as soon as you come back!"

"Of course, dear Meredy." Lyon smirked as Meredy frowned with the 'affectionate' nickname, though noticed the blush that formed on her face. It was so fun to tease her.

Afterwards the boys left them by the gate, and wasted no second as they knocked on the door of the house. Lyon could feel his sweat dripping on his forehead in anticipation, and it seems that Gray was equally nervous as well.

Ultear, is it really you?

A few seconds later, it opened. It was rather dim inside, and he couldn't see well the person who pulled open the door. Judging by her voice, however, it belonged to a much older woman, probably decades older than his senior.

"Ah, I was expecting you, boys. Please, come in."

And they did, with the newly-reformed ice trolley behind them. The woman turned on a lamp, illuminating the house better. Immediately he turned to see the identity of the woman, to see if it was indeed the daughter of his teacher, however...

It was someone he never even recalled seeing before.

She was a rather lean woman with her greyish hair tied up in a bun. A rather simple looking elderly woman... But this wasn't Ultear.

Was she?

He turned to Gray, but he seems to be as lost and speechless as he was.

The woman only smiled, offering them some beverages on the coffee table. "You must be wondering who I am... However, I do know the two of you very well. But please, have a seat."

And so they did.

"My name is... Joce."

Joce?

"You could say I am a friend of Ur."

Oh.

OH.

All that nervousness for nothing.

She clasped her hands together with a sweet smile. "Ur used to be a regular customer in my fruit shop, and I remember the two of you very well, waiting for her while she bought from me. You were just this small the last time I saw both of you! And indeed, you two turned out to be quite the handsome men I was expecting you to be!"

Lyon finally mustered the nerve to speak, with everything become clearer. "It is a pleasure to meet you too, ma'am. Thank you for the compliments."

"Likewise..." Gray added, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Also, here's the ice cream you requested."

Joce grinned widely. "Oh, so you did bring it! You are indeed Ur's good-looking disciples!"

The two only smiled sheepishly.

After a brief moment of silence, Lyon spoke again. "If it may not be too rude to ask, Joce-san, but may you enlighten us about this memento of Ur that you wrote in the request?"

"Oh, that..." Joce shut her eyes, the smile not once leaving her face. "That memento is already inside the two of you, the moment both of you entered this house."

When neither spoke another sound, the woman giggled.

"That sounds a bit confusing, doesn't it? Let me enlighten you, as you wish! Ur... Even though she wouldn't admit it openly, I knew she was very much concerned about the two of you. As children both of you tend to squabble a lot, yet kids will be kids, so she understood. However, she was mainly worried about how the two of you would get along in the future, should she not be there to guide you both."

She took a sip of tea from her cup.

"And what she feared the most happened. I heard about the demon that Ur fought and the outcomes of the said fight." Her eyes looked at her tea sadly. "She confided with me one day to keep an eye on you two should that day come, but unfortunately, it seems the two of you went separate ways after Ur's death... And I haven't heard from you ever since. Life went on for me, of course, and I am not a person capable of magic so I continued being a simple fruit vendor."

Lyon gave a slow nod. "However, you never did forget about Ur's last request, correct?"

Joce lightly bobbed her head in response. "Of course. We considered Ur as a hero back in the days, even before she fought the demon, because she defended our village from those who wanted to take advantage of us non-mages. The least I could so is to honor her request. That is also why I moved from the Northern part of Fiore to here, in search for the two of you."

Gray was also listening intently. "I see. So you found out about us during..."

"During the Grand Magic Games, yes. At first, I did not really have any interest in watching it, since business is busy as usual, but the moment I heard that there were ice mages participating, I immediately tuned in to the television and saw the two of you. I could never forget your black and silver locks, of course! However, I had no idea how to contact you, plus, business became very miserable when Magnolia was destroyed months ago. When business became stable and fruits and crops flourished once more, I went back to my search and only recently heard of these job requests..." She clapped her hand happily. "So here we are! I thought of requesting ice cream because of the heat, and after all, ice cream must be your specialties too, right? Tee hee!"

Lyon gave a respectful smile at her comments, though the boys found themselves turning their heads to one another. Both had the same question lingering on their minds.

"Still... Where does the memento come in?" Lyon said.

She grinned cheekily. "Ur's memento is...your companionship. Even after all those trials in life, both of you are here. Ur would really be so proud of what the two of you become."

A warm, content feeling surged within Lyon, and he found himself smiling. He side glanced at Gray, and he knew what she said had the same effect on him.

Eventually they bid Joce goodbye, thanking her for all her efforts in doing Ur's last request. Before they left, she insisted that they bring along some of her fresh fruits, so they went out the house with a fruit basket on each of their hands.

"So let me get this straight... The memento is the fruit basket?" Meredy asked in amusement.

"Yes." The boys both answered immediately. Lyon was thankful for Gray thinking the same. Companionship...is a bit too cheesy for his liking, and knowing Meredy, she'd tease them a lot. And knowing Juvia... Lots of misunderstandings may ensue. Lots.

Juvia seemed to be too confused. "...How?"

"These fruits are what Master Ur used to buy for us, back in the days."

"Yes. My dear brother is correct." Lyon added confidently, "And it represents the importance of keeping one's nutrition healthy, something that Master Ur taught us."

The two girls could only shrug, accepting the odd explanation, somehow.

As they all walked back together towards Magnolia, Gray invited them to make fruit shakes at the guild, using their "reward" from the mission. For one of the few times in ever, Lyon admitted that it was a good idea. Hearing this, Meredy gave him a wide grin, and he only huffed, hiding a smile.

Maybe what Meredy did say is right. It wouldn't hurt too much to try to get along with him. It's what Ur would want too, after all.


	7. Makeshift Zoo

Meredy sneezed for the nth time that day.

Ugh. It was one of the most horrible days of her life. She was stuck at home on her bed, sniffing endlessly due to a bad flu. What made the day even worse was that she was supposed to be in the newly-opened zoo at Hargeon Town. She was very much looking forward for this day, so much that she was the one who preordered the promo tickets just to witness its grand opening. Plus, she happened to obtain VIP seats for their spectacular bird show, given only to those who booked the trip first. So much for staying up late and constantly refreshing the Hargeon Zoo website just to be visitor number 1. As much as she wanted to sneak out, her sick body wouldn't permit her to.

Meredy slumped down on her bed, lifting the covers as she tried to sleep her disappointment away. But to no avail, her eyes were still wide open, the effects of the medicine still not taking effect.

Sick yet bored, she decided to grab her mobile phone and play CaptchaMon until she grew tired. Before she was able to open the game application, however, a text message arrived.

' _Juvia is so devastated to know that you cannot come with us, Meredy._ _Do not worry, we shall book another trip here once you are well again!'_

Meredy smiled at the message. Trust Juvia to help make her feel better. It's a big bummer that she wasn't able to go there with her, Gray, and Lyon though. She just hoped they were able to pull one extra person to fill in her spot so her ticket wouldn't go to waste; perhaps Lyon invited one of his guild mates instead? Meredy began typing her reply:

' _I'd appreciate that, Juvia! (TwT) Could u perhaps just send over some pictures of the animals instead? At least I could imagine I'm there w/ u LOL. Btw, who r u guys with?'_

And she hit the send button. She eagerly stared at her phone, waiting for a reply, but Juvia seemed to be taking long. They must be having fun, at least, she thought to herself smiling. For a while, Meredy opted to rest her eyes and a few minutes later, she felt her phone vibrate again.

' _We got to see this pretty bird! It's called a Honey Eater!'_

Huh. So much for asking who filled in her spot. Before she could ponder about it, she received a photo message from Juvia, showing a picture of an elegant bird with bright yellow feathers. From below, she could see Juvia's eyes and a bit of Gray's hair. Meredy chuckled; Juvia should've just asked for Lyon to take their picture instead.

' _It looks cool. Rly wish I was w/ u guys (TwT) …. But please do send more pictures.'_

Just as she clicked the send button, there was a flutter by her window, causing her to turn her head towards its direction, albeit a bit sluggish than what she'd like. The sickness was dulling her reflexes and she hated it.

However, her discontent was replaced with fascination as she stared at the elegant ice animal by her window. The creature flied from her window and over her head. Taking a closer look, she realized it was an ice version of the Honey Eater bird that Juvia just sent.

Her phone vibrated again, and it showed a picture of a brown bear inside a cage, with Gray observing it and Juvia's eyes again close to the screen.

' _Look, Gray-sama is in front of the bear!'_

There was another fluster from the curtains of her open window, and to her surprise, a bear made out of ice, similar to the one in Juvia's picture, materialized from thin air and entered her room.

A warm sensation enveloped Meredy's cheeks, and she knew it wasn't from her illness.

The cycle went on. As Juvia sent her a picture of an animal, a corresponding ice creature materialized and travelled inside her room. Soon enough, a barrage of ice animals were keeping her company, and she was no short of amused. No, she was _captivated_.

An ice butterfly landed on her palm and she realized it wasn't as cold as she expected. A flying fish swam its way on the air, and Meredy touched its cool, carved scales.

A wider smile made its way on her lips. Despite her aching muscles, she mustered her strength to go out of bed, walking her way towards the window. Supporting herself by leaning on the wall, she scanned the surroundings from below yet she found no one.

However, she was very much sure his presence was there.

"Hey," she said with a rather croaky voice, which she hated too, but it had to suffice for now, just to send out her message, "I know…you're there…"

The breeze of the air became stronger than usual for a while, yet he didn't reveal himself, which was what she expected anyway. Trust him to act cool like that.

She wouldn't admit it of course, but that's what she liked about him too.

Unbeknownst to her, the said figure was leaning against a tree, away from her sight, smiling contentedly.

When her legs grew tired already, she went back to her bed, just in time for the ice animals to dematerialize out of thin air. The cold breeze flew out of her window, as if telling her the show was over, and that she should get some rest.

And so she did.

But as she closed her eyes, she wondered, if he was here, then who on Earthland grabbed their tickets?

At the zoo, Jellal sneezed hard just as a pigeon went flying by.

"How thoughtful of Lyon to give him his tickets, right?" Erza said, sitting contentedly on their VIP seats at the exclusive bird show.

Jellal simply nodded just as the show was about to start. Perhaps there was something good about that guy, after all.

 


End file.
